I think, Russia wanted to get quickly to occupy the South of Ukraine, reach Odessa and cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea. that‘s what failed spectacularly.

distraction. and binding forces.

reality is that nobody can force Russia to compromise. so the compromise offer must be attractive enough.

Ukraine is not winning either and slowly bleeding to death.
I think a reasonable compromise would be a very good idea at this stage.

whatever compromise putin subscribes to, he will portray it as victory internally in Russia.
and that also needs to be possible for any reasonable peace deal to work out.

I am not favouring surrender and consume no Russian propaganda outlets.
I just think Kiev was never the target. what Russia failed with was her attempt to march to Odessa and cut Ukraine off the Black Sea.

I am not for surrender, but for reasonable compromise.